Bait Tank Plumbing Issues???

[Yoodles82]

Ok, so i made an impulse buy from a bcf web special and bought a live bait tank with a RULE 360gph bilge pump. Only $75 so i was pretty chuffed with myself.

Got it in the mail today and i have no idea how to plumb the bloody thing in!

Comes with a couple of hoses but i'll upload some pics and maybe someone can tell me what goes where...cause i'm at a loss.

I don't even know if the pump is supposed to be in the water :-)

Hold tight while i upload some pics.

[Yoodles82]

Inside:

Side - Inlets/Outlets:

With hoses:

Pump:

[noname]

ok, what happens is

the bilge pump is bolted to the transome of your boat, see thay alloy bracket, well it has to be low enough so that water pressure can be pushed through, with out the pump being switched on, so position it so that the water can do so, this will work when your on the move without the pump being switched on,and not 180 degree's. the cut off piece should be facing the transome. from the bilge pump outlet run a hose over your transome or through your transome, to the highest inlet of the live bait tank. as water fills up the tank it will simply flow out the overflow pipe, which is the pvc piping, and out a hose fitted to the exterior of the tank and running outside your boat. just make sure the tank is above water level, if you can, and if going through your hull, install ball valves.

[tugger]

thats a bargain for $75

[Yoodles82]

tugger wrote:

thats a bargain for $75

Yeah i was pretty happy!

[Yoodles82]

noname wrote:

ok, what happens is

the bilge pump is bolted to the transome of your boat, see thay alloy bracket, well it has to be low enough so that water pressure can be pushed through, with out the pump being switched on, so position it so that the water can do so, this will work when your on the move without the pump being switched on,and not 180 degree's. the cut off piece should be facing the transome. from the bilge pump outlet run a hose over your transome or through your transome, to the highest inlet of the live bait tank. as water fills up the tank it will simply flow out the overflow pipe, which is the pvc piping, and out a hose fitted to the exterior of the tank and running outside your boat. just make sure the tank is above water level, if you can, and if going through your hull, install ball valves.

Cheers...that makes sense. So does the actual pump have to be in the water...or just the metal shaft part, for it to pump water?

[Feral]

Same as Ray's ask him for some photo's

[rayke1938]

I will do some photos later plus a couple of simple mods. That is a real bargain.

Cheers

Ray

[Breamobsetion]

Yoodles82 where abouts did you find this special on bait tanks and is it still running

[Yoodles82]

Nah, special's not running now...was BCF web special in their online store. I've only ever seen it once before and made the mistake of "thinking about it". By the time i decided i wanted it, it was gone.

I have a feeling it is 'opened' stock that won't sell in the shops. But this one was only up on the web for 1 day/overnight. I bought it at night and by morning it was gone :-) Pretty hot items :cheer:

[rayke1938]

Looks identical to mine.

ine developed a smalls around one of the rivets in the bottom that secure the mounting plates so I just placed a dab of silicone on all of them as I was too lazy ro remove the tank and find the locate the leaky one.

I already had a fuel tank tray installed between the stern and the rear seat so that is where I installed it.

The water outlet woulkd have been under the waterline of the boat so I raised the outlet on the stern.

I had to use flexible tubing as the tubing supplied was not flexible enough to go round the tight turns.

When I undo the plug to drain the tank about 4 to 5 inches of water remains in the tank and to overcome this I installed a boat type drain plug into the bottom of the tank and simpl;y drain the remaining water into the bilgs of the boat.

Here is a close up of the pump installation. It didnt really have to go down so far but there were 2 holes in the stern that I was able to utilise rather having to plug them up and drilling new holes.

Make certain that you use utilux clamps on all pressure side of the connection as the inlet scoop really generates a high pressure and will blow the hoses off.

I just brought the inlet hose up over the transom which is a lot easier than cutting holes in the transom.

I also installed an irrigation type tap fitting for a couple of reasons.

Sometimes you do not need to use the tank so why bother filling it up?

The intake generates a high flow at speed and it is more that the outlet pipe can handle and the tank just overflows into the boat even the pump is borderline.

I usually have the tap half way turned on.

My final touch was to install a timer switch instead of just a on - off type switch. I have the option of having pump running continiously or using the timer function the pump runs for one minute and can vary the off times between one and 5 minutes.

There was a guy on ausfish importing and selling the timersa few years ago but he hasnt advertised them for a long time .

Cheers

Ray

[noname]

Yoodles82 wrote:

noname wrote:

ok, what happens is

the bilge pump is bolted to the transome of your boat, see thay alloy bracket, well it has to be low enough so that water pressure can be pushed through, with out the pump being switched on, so position it so that the water can do so, this will work when your on the move without the pump being switched on,and not 180 degree's. the cut off piece should be facing the transome. from the bilge pump outlet run a hose over your transome or through your transome, to the highest inlet of the live bait tank. as water fills up the tank it will simply flow out the overflow pipe, which is the pvc piping, and out a hose fitted to the exterior of the tank and running outside your boat. just make sure the tank is above water level, if you can, and if going through your hull, install ball valves.

Cheers...that makes sense. So does the actual pump have to be in the water...or just the metal shaft part, for it to pump water?

the pump has to be underwater for the pump to work,but only when at rest. have the tube about 1/2 inch under the hull.

[Yoodles82]

Cheers Ray...those mods are pretty good ideas. I've heard about them overflowing so i like the tap :-)

[mick fillet]

What a bargain.good score mate!!!

[dhess]

Am about to install a live bait tank myself and was had a bit of an idea for wiring.

Why not have the bilge pump connected through a relay to the ignition. That way when you are motoring around the scoop is feeding water and when you turn the motor off the pump automatically turns on. You would offcourse wire a switch or switch timer like rays in series as well.

Any thoughts?

I just think I will constantly forget to turn the pump on and turn my livey's into deadies.

[rayke1938]

I didnt point out that the switch on my timer is 3 way position 1 is automatic , posn 2 is off and posn 3 is manual.

With my style of fishing and I am going to use the live well I usually turn it straight onto automatic as soon as i launch and even if I am castnetting off the end of the ramp there is sufficient water in the tank.

If you are going to wire it in via a relay connected to the ignition the tank would not commence to fill until you got under way and the relay would have to switch the pump on when the relay is in the off position so you would have to ensure that you purchased the correct type of relay and you would also need to have a seperate switch to turn the pump off or else the pump would run all the time that you had the motor not running.

Much simpler just to have an on/off switch and have pump run all the time they only draw around 3 amps so unless you are going to run it for long sessions you shouldnt have any problems with battery going flat.

The main advantage of having a timer is it greatly extends your battery life and still keeps your liveys fresh. I have no problems keeping herring alive for a 6 hour session.

I would think that you would be able to get the components from Dick Smiths or similar a lot cheaper than purchasing a ready made one.

Cheers

Ray

[Davo_Dinkum]

maybe jaycar to get the bits to make a timer .

nice 1 on buying the live tank Yoodles82 ,sounds like a good score .

and if u don't use the tank u have got a bilge pump .

the tap is def a good idea ,u can use it to regulate the pressure /flow .

also the bottom bung is a good idea so u can get all the water out .

[rayke1938]

Also always carry a scoop net for catching the livies out of the tank especially if they are small catfish.

Cheers

Ray

[Feral]

There is a bloke up Townsville way who sells suitable timers. Cant remember his name, but a search on bait tank timers usually finds him. My Vague memory tells me around $70?

[dhess]

rayke1938 wrote:

I didnt point out that the switch on my timer is 3 way position 1 is automatic , posn 2 is off and posn 3 is manual.

With my style of fishing and I am going to use the live well I usually turn it straight onto automatic as soon as i launch and even if I am castnetting off the end of the ramp there is sufficient water in the tank.

If you are going to wire it in via a relay connected to the ignition the tank would not commence to fill until you got under way and the relay would have to switch the pump on when the relay is in the off position so you would have to ensure that you purchased the correct type of relay and you would also need to have a seperate switch to turn the pump off or else the pump would run all the time that you had the motor not running.

Much simpler just to have an on/off switch and have pump run all the time they only draw around 3 amps so unless you are going to run it for long sessions you shouldnt have any problems with battery going flat.

The main advantage of having a timer is it greatly extends your battery life and still keeps your liveys fresh. I have no problems keeping herring alive for a 6 hour session.

I would think that you would be able to get the components from Dick Smiths or similar a lot cheaper than purchasing a ready made one.

Cheers

Ray

My reason for wanting to wire in a relay was that I thought it would be bad idea to have the pump constantly running while underway at speed for an hour or so between spots. Isn't that what the scoop is for? I guess it makes sense that as long as the pump isn't run dry it shouldn't be an issue. Although come to think of it water being forced in at high pressure through the scoop is going to place a lot of resistance on the impellor.

Maybe I would be better off getting a scoop without the pump sitting on top and mount the pump seperately?

[rayke1938]

Guy in townsville makes a basic timer for $70.Bit of info on how to wire it up etc also on site.

http://www.tanktimer.net.au

Cheers

Ray

[noname]

dhess wrote:

rayke1938 wrote:

I didnt point out that the switch on my timer is 3 way position 1 is automatic , posn 2 is off and posn 3 is manual.

With my style of fishing and I am going to use the live well I usually turn it straight onto automatic as soon as i launch and even if I am castnetting off the end of the ramp there is sufficient water in the tank.

If you are going to wire it in via a relay connected to the ignition the tank would not commence to fill until you got under way and the relay would have to switch the pump on when the relay is in the off position so you would have to ensure that you purchased the correct type of relay and you would also need to have a seperate switch to turn the pump off or else the pump would run all the time that you had the motor not running.

Much simpler just to have an on/off switch and have pump run all the time they only draw around 3 amps so unless you are going to run it for long sessions you shouldnt have any problems with battery going flat.

The main advantage of having a timer is it greatly extends your battery life and still keeps your liveys fresh. I have no problems keeping herring alive for a 6 hour session.

I would think that you would be able to get the components from Dick Smiths or similar a lot cheaper than purchasing a ready made one.

Cheers

Ray

My reason for wanting to wire in a relay was that I thought it would be bad idea to have the pump constantly running while underway at speed for an hour or so between spots. Isn't that what the scoop is for? I guess it makes sense that as long as the pump isn't run dry it shouldn't be an issue. Although come to think of it water being forced in at high pressure through the scoop is going to place a lot of resistance on the impellor.

Maybe I would be better off getting a scoop without the pump sitting on top and mount the pump seperately?

thats why i have a good quality airator, and no scoop, just the pump just above the hull! it worx a treat and yet just so simple, the batteries go flat, just throw in another 2 d size suckers, and your right for another 4/5 trips of constant running.

[Davo_Dinkum]

u talkin about the bucket job ?

[dhess]

noname wrote:

thats why i have a good quality airator, and no scoop, just the pump just above the hull! it worx a treat and yet just so simple, the batteries go flat, just throw in another 2 d size suckers, and your right for another 4/5 trips of constant running.

Is that setup good enough to keep slimies alive though?

[noname]

hell yeah, my tank is more like a spa bath!

[noname]

lookin for a pic!

thats the tank with no airator attached, usin it for somethin else :laugh: you can see the tube where it attaches to though.

[noname]

if you look closely you can see the inlet and outlet! inlet is on the R.H.S.